


Perspective

by Rahenna



Series: Rahenna's Gakuen Heaven Oneshots [30]
Category: Gakuen Heaven 2 ~Double Scramble~
Genre: Adoption, Brotherly Love, Brothers, Family, Gen, Reunions
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-18
Updated: 2019-12-18
Packaged: 2021-02-26 09:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21847639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rahenna/pseuds/Rahenna
Summary: Reuniting with the brother you haven't seen in years is terrifying, or maybe exciting. It's all a matter of perspective.
Relationships: Suzubishi Nao & Kasahara Tomo
Series: Rahenna's Gakuen Heaven Oneshots [30]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/483566





	Perspective

**Author's Note:**

> Contains spoilers for Gakuen Heaven 2. If you intend to play the game yourself, reading this may ruin your fun a bit. :)
> 
> If you want to know more about the Gakuen Heaven series, please visit my fansite for game translations and summaries:  
> [welcome to Heaven](http://heaven.neo-romance.net/)

_Suzubishi Nao_

My favorite room in my adoptive mother's apartment, aside from the coziness of my own bedroom, was the space she used as an office and study. Tall bookcases lined the walls, their shelves stuffed with books on topics ranging from biology to finance to education. It had become my haven, the familiarity of crisp pages comforting whenever I felt sick or worried. But today, when I needed them most, the books had failed me.

Tomo was coming. My dear little brother who I hadn't seen in nearly six years would walk through the door at any minute, and I wasn't ready.

How could I face the boy who had trusted me so completely, so innocently, as I explained that he shouldn't stay at the orphanage with me forever, that he needed _a real family?_ Of course I couldn't have known that they were white collar criminals who would rope an unsuspecting child into their schemes. No one had known. But that didn't change the fact that Tomo had been the one to suffer because of our ignorance. My ignorance.

We had been a real family, just the two of us, and I'd arrogantly decided it wasn't enough. I'd missed Tomo terribly, regretted sending him away, but I'd been able to bear it by telling myself that he was thriving in his new environment. When the news broke that his adoptive parents had been using their software to steal secrets and funds from clients, and that their adopted son had unwittingly aided in the programming of those security holes and backdoors, I was devastated.

All I'd wanted was for Tomo to have a normal life. To stop worrying about being different from his classmates, pitied and looked down upon for being parentless. To have his own toys and clothes new from the store instead of worn hand-me-downs, to have the opportunity to participate in school activities and trips, to have his own room and his own birthday cake. All trivial, even shallow things when taken separately, but they added up to stability and normalcy for a nine year old boy. And he'd gained all of those things, but still...

"I failed you." My whisper felt too loud in the silent study, and I bit down hard on my lip. Tomo had returned to the orphanage after the dissolution of his adoption, robbed of all the comforts of his new life, only to discover that I was long gone. I'd been adopted by the ridiculously wealthy Suzubishi family only a few months after Tomo had left. Our father had been a distant relation, and the two of us would have been adopted together - if not for my meddling.

I swallowed hard, throat aching. While Tomo had been suffering at the hands of his adoptive parents, I'd been surrounded by love and luxury. My health had improved dramatically with the full strength of the Suzubishi fortune and influence backing my care, and I'd recovered enough to work full time as the head of the Group's private school, Bell Liberty.

When Tomo's name appeared on the list of candidates for admission, my heart had nearly stopped. Finally, a chance to do something good for my little brother, something that I had control over and could guarantee as a positive experience.

And now, a few weeks before the start of the school year, Tomo was coming to see me.

I could barely breathe, gut knotted up as I glanced at my phone. Any minute now.

How could I face Tomo, knowing that I'd been the unwitting author of all his misery? That I'd been thriving in the lap of luxury while he'd been slaving away at software development tasks far beyond what should have been expected of a child his age? That I'd received the priceless warmth and support of a genuine family, while - according to news reports - Tomo had been treated coldly, as if he was little more than a machine trained for coding.

Were those people even proud of Tomo when he won the national track title that had eventually secured him a place at Bell Liberty? Had they celebrated and told him that he was amazing? They must have been supportive. _Must have._ Tomo couldn't have risen to that level if he hadn't been given the proper equipment and encouraged to train. Right? It couldn't have been _all_ bad with that new family.

_You're just trying to convince yourself, Nao. You did this to Tomo. Take responsibility._

Responsibility. That was the only reason I hadn't run away, locked myself in my room, and cancelled the appointment. I _had_ to face Tomo. Had to let him know I understood how wrong I'd been, that I'd hurt him, and that I regretted everything. I owed him that much.

A knock on the door. I shivered. "C... Come in."

~~~

_Kasahara Tomo_

The penthouse apartment in the heart of Tokyo was more amazing than I'd imagined. I tried not to stare at the stylish, modern furniture or the tastefully showcased artwork as I made my way to the study, but it was hard to keep from getting distracted. And it was hard to believe that I was allowed to just roam around inside a Suzubishi's home without anyone hovering over me, making sure I wasn't about to touch something valuable or sit on a priceless antique chair without permission.

I'd been greeted at the door by a man in a suit who'd introduced himself as Suzubishi-san's secretary. He'd apologized for her unplanned absence - apparently some sort of important meeting had popped up at the last minute - and informed me that my brother was waiting in the study. And then he'd excused himself and headed off to join his employer at work, leaving me alone in a fancy apartment full of expensive stuff.

 _Not alone. Brother's here too._ My chest tightened. It had been so long since we'd seen each other. I wondered if he'd recognize me now, so different from that skinny kid in a tank top and shorts that were two sizes too big. I'd grown a ton and put on a bunch of muscle since then, thanks to lots of intensive sprint training, and my jeans and polo shirt were properly fitted. I was sure Brother had seen a few pictures of me, but there was no substitute for reality.

Brother hadn't changed much, from the photos I'd seen, still skinny and fond of dark-framed glasses. A smile came to my lips as I remembered his official Bell Liberty profile photo. Though his smile was the same as always, I couldn't remember the last time I'd seen so much color in Brother's face, or his cheeks so full. He looked _healthy_. Thank god he'd been adopted by the Suzubishi family; the orphanage had government support and all, but that was no comparison to the sort of care a huge private fortune could buy. And the Suzubishi Group worked in pharamaceuticals, so Brother probably had exclusive access to the best medical technology in the country.

Everything was perfect. Too perfect.

I closed my eyes and let out a quiet sigh. I'd been holding my breath without realizing it, my mind convinced that everything was a dream. Any moment now, I would wake up back at my new family's home for another day of work under the watchful eyes of my distant 'father' and disapproving 'mother.'

When I opened my eyes, I was still standing in the middle of a luxurious but cozy living room. I hadn't even met Suzubishi-san, but I could sense her warmth in the personal touches around the space: a few souvenirs from international travels, a pretty framed needlepoint on a far wall, and a cluster of family photos on an end table. My eyes were drawn to a splash of color in the largest photo, a smiling middle-aged woman wearing a bold floral dress, her arm around a teen boy's shoulders. It was Brother, looking just as I remembered him from the day we parted. It must have been a photo from the day he'd been adopted.

That was the photo displayed most prominently and most proudly in Suzubishi-san's home.

And though it stung a little to see Brother - _my_ big brother, the only family I'd ever had - smiling shyly as a stranger I'd never met hugged him, that wasn't all. Emotion were all mixed up in my head, excitement and relief, a sense of lightness, and the satisfaction of seeing a good person finally get the reward they'd been denied for so long. Brother was stable, safe, and happy. He didn't have to worry about losing access to his medications or having a relapse. He'd found genuine love and support.

_The nightmare is over, for both of us. And we can finally be together._

I hurried down the hall to the study, unable to wait another moment for our reunion. I knocked impatiently, cringing a bit at the sharpness of the sound in the quiet space. Silence. My heart froze. Was Brother really in there? Was I all alone in this luxury apartment? Or was it that Brother didn't want to see me?

Relief flooded my senses when his voice finally came, soft and tentative. "C... Come in."

I pushed open the door, and there he was in the middle of a bookcase-lined room, staring at me with an undisguised look of panic. Was he scared? Did he expect me to be angry? Whatever he'd been stressing about, he was wrong. I couldn't stop myself from grinning as I took in the reality of the situation; his filled-in frame, the warmth in his cheeks.

"Brother." I closed the gap, hugging him to me. "I'm back."

~ end ~

**Author's Note:**

> Nao is one of my favorite characters in Gakuen Heaven 2 despite only appearing in flashbacks. He's presented as an ideal big brother figure, but I've always seen him as flawed, a worrier, and emotionally dishonest with good intentions - like preventing others from worrying about him.
> 
> In this piece, I wanted to explore Nao's feelings about Tomo's failed adoption, since he doesn't go into much detail about them in the game. I also wanted to show Tomo's excitement at being reunited with Nao and the difference between how the two brothers see the situation. The story ends at the moment of meeting because I felt that the anticipation each was feeling about their reunion was more interesting than the reunion itself. It's up to the reader to imagine how the conversation might go.


End file.
